How does the calculator decide whether buying beats renting?

It tracks two parallel scenarios over your horizon. The buyer pays a deposit, stamp duty, mortgage repayments and yearly holding costs but ends owning a home that has appreciated, minus the outstanding mortgage. The renter pays rising rent but keeps the deposit invested. The tool reports each path's net worth and the difference.

What mortgage rate should I use for Ireland?

Irish mortgage rates have typically ranged from roughly 3.5% to 4.5% for owner-occupiers in recent years, varying with the ECB base rate, your loan-to-value and whether you fix. Use a rate close to an actual offer you can get, and try a higher rate to stress-test the result.

Does it include stamp duty and buying costs?

Yes. It adds Irish residential stamp duty (1% on the first EUR 1,000,000, 2% above) plus a small allowance for legal and survey fees to the upfront cost of buying. These one-off costs make short ownership periods less likely to beat renting.

Why does the time horizon matter so much?

Buying carries large upfront costs that take years of appreciation and rent savings to recover. Over a short horizon renting often wins because you avoid those sunk costs, while over a longer horizon ownership usually pulls ahead as the mortgage is paid down and the property appreciates.

Is this financial advice for my situation?

No. It is an estimate based on the assumptions you enter and does not account for your personal tax position, Help to Buy schemes, mortgage interest relief, maintenance surprises or interest-rate changes. Use it to compare scenarios, not as a substitute for advice from a qualified adviser.

Ireland Rent vs Buy Calculator

Email me this result

Get this tool's output sent to your inbox, plus one useful tool a week. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

The Ireland Rent vs Buy calculator answers a question almost every Irish household faces: is it financially better to keep renting or to buy? Headline house prices and monthly rents do not tell the whole story — the honest comparison weighs your deposit’s opportunity cost, the mortgage you pay down, stamp duty, ongoing costs, rent inflation and property appreciation together over the years you actually plan to stay.

How it works

The tool simulates two parallel paths over your chosen horizon.

On the buying side it charges an upfront cost of deposit + stamp duty + buying fees, where Irish residential stamp duty is 1% on the first EUR 1,000,000 of price and 2% above. Each year it adds your mortgage repayments (a standard annuity on the borrowed amount) and yearly holding costs such as insurance and maintenance. At the end it values your equity as the appreciated property price minus the remaining mortgage balance.

On the renting side it charges rent that grows by your rent-inflation rate each year, while the money you would have used as a deposit and on buying costs stays invested and grows at your expected investment return.

Buy net worth = appreciated home value − outstanding mortgage − total owning cash paid. Rent net worth = invested deposit grown − total rent paid.

Whichever path leaves you with the higher net worth at the end is the financial winner for that horizon and set of assumptions.

Tips and notes

Buying usually wins over long horizons because upfront stamp duty and fees are recovered while the mortgage shrinks and the home appreciates; renting often wins over short horizons where those sunk costs dominate. Try a higher mortgage rate or a lower appreciation rate to see how robust the answer is — the result is sensitive to both. This is an estimate only and does not model Irish schemes like Help to Buy, your personal tax, or unexpected maintenance.